Top 10 Realistic Ways to Be More Active

Keep your water bottle nearby all the time. That being said, why not toss your gym clothes and a good pair of shoes into your school/work bag? Now you have no excuse for not stopping by the gym on your way home from work 😉 Don’t forget a hair tie!

Change up your fitness routine so you don’t experience any boredom. I think they key tip is to find something you love to do, whether that’s Zumba or TRX. Find something that you find fun and entertaining. If you’re suffering through every class and watching the time tick by during your squats, you’re probably not getting the most out of it.

Don’t go so hard that you’ll “feel the burn” tomorrow. Just go enough so that you sweat, get tired, but NOT sore enough that you won’t be able to come back the next day.

Don’t let stretching fall to the wayside! I think it’s great to learn a couple simple stretches for the parts of your body that need it most (shoulders? hips? hamstrings?) and work on those before or after exercise.

If you’re not feeling very confident, groove it! Turn on some music and just jam out. No one cares what you look like. Just move in a way that feels great – whether that’s a high-energy jumping dance or a slow, expressive dance.

Avoid exercising on a full belly or an empty stomach – snack ahead of time!

Check yourself out. I like having mirrors in yoga (and even cardio) so I can make sure that I have the right form.

Listen to music that you love. Why not make a killer playlist to make you excited to move?

Watch a movie or TV show while moving around! America’s Got Talent, for some reason, is my favourite thing to watch when I’m stretching.

Always ask yourself WHY you’re doing what you’re doing. WHY do you want to deadlift 50 pounds? WHY do you want to do the splits? Does that help you in daily life? Is it for yourself? Are you doing it for personal satisfaction?

BONUS: My favourite tip – reward yourself with non-food items afterwards. For me, it’s a long shower with my favourite cocoa sugar body scrub from the Body Shop. How about a week of workouts in exchange for a manicure? Or 10 yoga classes before you purchase that new notebook? It helps me a lot to tell myself what I’m going to “give” myself for doing a workout. It’s so much more rewarding to get something that lasts, as opposed to “I’m allowed to eat an 8×8 brownie because I did an hour of cardio today”. Food should be a pleasure, not a reward, in my opinion.